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3 DAYS / 10 WorkshopsMORE THAN 200 ACADEMIC PAPERS

How the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries relate to the rest of the world has
been a key concern of both academics and politicians in recent years. Considerable effort
has been devoted to examining the changing relationship between GCC countries and the
Western powers and also to the growing links between the GCC countries and other
Asian countries. So far, however, virtually no attention has been given to the BRICS
(Brazil, Russi ...

Abstract

How the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries relate to the rest of the world has
been a key concern of both academics and politicians in recent years. Considerable effort
has been devoted to examining the changing relationship between GCC countries and the
Western powers and also to the growing links between the GCC countries and other
Asian countries. So far, however, virtually no attention has been given to the BRICS
(Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) grouping – as an organization and
collective entity, as opposed to the individual countries in that grouping. Yet, this is a
group of countries which, in terms of how they fit into the global economic structure,
would seem to have much in common with GCC countries: experiencing rapid economic
growth which is giving them a substantial stake in the development of the global
economy; having interests which are on occasion at variance with those of the established
“heavyweights” of the global international political economy; pursuing concerted
campaigns aimed at reshaping global economic practice in ways which are more
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favorable to their own interests; resisting some of the pressures emanating from those
international bodies which promote the “Washington Consensus,” with a view to
safeguarding not only their specific short-term interests but also the long-term ability to
retain control of their political-economic future; and seeking South-South relationships so
as to balance the relations which they have with Western economies. It may also be the
case that, in some spheres (but not in others), there are elements of political alignment
also. The workshop will examine the extent to which the possible commonalities could
create the basis for the GCC either to associate themselves more closely with the BRICS
grouping, or perhaps even to move towards expanding it to BRICSAG.&nbsp;

Description and Rationale

The ideas framing this proposal have been laid out in the Abstract. The workshop will be
structured in a manner which enables these themes to be effectively pursued, leading up
to a clear conclusion and hopefully also with recommendations for how the GCC
countries and the BRICS countries could proceed in developing more areas of mutual
cooperation and coordination.
Contributions are not expected to be simply about bilateral relations between individual
GCC countries and individual BRICS countries (although these may figure as case
studies located within a wider analysis of GCC-BRICS relations), but rather to focus on
the general issues which affect the GCC-BRICS relationship. Nor should it be assumed
that there is a “natural fit” between the GCC and BRICS. The workshop, rather, will be
based on an open-minded discussion of both complementarities and conflicting interests,
with no a priori assumption that the former outweigh the latter. The Abstract states that
the GCC countries and the BRICS countries “would seem to have” much in common, but
whether the seeming commonality has a reality behind it is an open question – and one on
which participants in the workshop may (and probably will) have different views. The
objective is to provide analyses from which those with responsibility for interstate
relations in the GCC states and the BRICS states can benefit, whatever use they may
choose to make of this.
Although the BRICS grouping consists only of the five countries whose initial letters
appear in the moniker, this does not mean that the role of other countries (as well as the
GCC ones) should be excluded from consideration. The BRICS grouping, in addition to
constituting an organization which links five specific countries (facilitating joint action
by them at the global level), also represents an idea which has a more broadly-based
country representation. Each of the five countries is a major regional leader, able to
articulate wider regional needs and demands at the global level. The interests of Brazil,
for example, are very similar to those of the other major emerging economic powers of
Latin America (especially Argentina and Mexico); the interests of Russia are linked to
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those of some of the Caucasus and Central Asian republics (although in this case with
more dominance from the Russian side); the interests of South Africa are often
articulated within a wider African context, and a degree of cooperation exists not only
with the countries of the South African Development Community (SADC) but also with
some other fast-growing African economies – Nigeria and Ethiopia in particular; and
China’s and India’s global economic interests are similar to those of other rapidlyindustrializing Asian states. Contributions which relate to other countries as well as the
five BRICS countries, therefore, are also encouraged.
Similarly, although the focus is on the GCC states (from the Gulf side), this should not be
taken to mean that Iraq and Iran are excluded from consideration. On the contrary, papers
can also bring in issues about how both of those countries relate to BRICS, and how this
might impinge on GCC attitudes/policies.
The contributions sought are not just in the economic sphere. Indeed, the existence of
economic complementarities in themselves provides little basis for envisaging actual
cooperation, integration, or coordination. The BRICS countries pursue rather different
political agendas in global politics, yet there are also spheres in which they have
overlapping political perspectives. These have, indeed, been critical to some of the issues
which have come before the United Nations in recent years. The coherence of BRICS as
a grouping rests not only on the perception of common economic interests but also on
these elements of perceived political commonality – even though the latter may not be
equally shared by all BRICS countries and despite the commonality sometimes resting
only on a shared scepticism of Western policies in non-Western countries. It is important
to consider, therefore, what (if any) elements of political commonality the GCC countries
have with BRICS countries, and whether these are sufficiently strong to provide the
incentive to act together economically and politically.
Clearly there are some issue-areas where the BRICS and GCC countries have liaised
together closely, such as in negotiations about and around the WTO, in discussions on
energy matters, and on some United Nations Security Council issues such as the Brazilian
proposals over humanitarian intervention. At the same time there have been regional
Middle Eastern issues where the BRICS countries have positioned themselves differently
from the GCC countries – especially on the events which followed the Arab Spring,
especially in Libya and Syria.
While all of those with interest in this field are encouraged to submit paper proposals, the
convenors are particularly eager to attract young researchers/academics from the
countries concerned. The workshop will in this way, it is hoped, not only contribute to the
richness of the field of Gulf Studies but also bring the new generation of researchers in
the GCC together with some of their counterparts in African, Latin American and Asian
countries.
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The structuring of the workshop schedule will depend on the papers submitted/chosen,
but it will open with a paper by one of the convenors covering the nature of BRICS, its
organizational forms, the complementarity of the global economic strategies pursued by
the five countries concerned, the record of the meetings held so far, the success/failure of
the collective strategies pursued at the global level, the links with other organizations
which impinge on relations between the countries concerned (such as the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization), and the extent to which the BRICS body has political
underpinnings. Initial comments on how this may relate to the GCC will then be made.